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I was swimming through that Hisamitsu v Denso match and a critical stretch for Denso was coming back from 18-24 to win the second set. And they did it with Nabeya on the bench. Youngster Rei Kudo got the playing time, and also in the 5th set over Sakamoto. Good coaching, good bench. That means a lot. Kudo has shown glimpses of promise a few times this year.

Losing the match exposes Hisamitsu, but I think losing that 2nd set exposed them in a bigger way.

Good that Toyoto is going to play the cupfinal
Good luck to them
any link to watch Nec-Toyota sf match ?
Denso team is in a good shape they displayed it beating Hisamitsu the best team of the league in the standings

Anybody know exactly when the next Empress Cup games will be played so I can look for live streams?

[update] crap, I forgot about the time zone

NEC v Toyota1-3
Toray v Denso0-3

Toyota v Denso in the finals. 17:00 Japan Time on tomorrow is ... Midnight tonight PST?

Last night I looked for streams on youtube and videostream but I did not find any , but i was looking around 7pm . IK`m guessing they played later, but I`m not sure if they will have, I think last year I did not find any.

Kind surprising that Denso made to the final, but that shows in the round of 6 and especially finals anything can happen.

Last night I looked for streams on youtube and videostream but I did not find any , but i was looking around 7pm . IK`m guessing they played later, but I`m not sure if they will have, I think last year I did not find any.

Speaking of how awesome Hitachi is ...

... if you exclude foreigners, and don't count receiving or defense of any kind ... Megumi Kurihara is the best OH in the league. She's tall and beautiful, has a great swing and a great serve. Apparently she had her day in the sun before my time when she played with the Japanese NT. I wish I had seen her in her heyday, although I am enjoying her now. Hitachi would have an even worse record without her, given Watanabe's on again off again status, and Osanai's growing pains. If Osanai hits one into the block it's almost guaranteed she will hit the next one out of bounds, especially if it's a second swing on the same play. That's just youngster-itis. She'll outgrow it.

What a delightful Set1 (in semi-total crap stream quality)! Denso was having a block party, mostly Chris Furst, but my little sweet pea Airi Tahara got her hands on more than one. They got off to a big lead but Toyota persisted and looked like they were going to make an end around run and steal the set. Kudos to youngster Kudo for saying "no" to that. Sakamoto is out of uniform in the stands. Denso started Yui Asahi in her place, and brought in Kudo to close out the win in over time. Great set!

I might as well just kill myself

Live stream died at 4-3 in the tiebreak

I know who won but I'm not going to name them because the game belonged to Denso. Major props and Kudos to Rei Kudo. Kid just turned twenty, hasn't seen much playing time, comes in and plays the best volleyball of her life. This isn't an important tournament like the ECh but it was important to her, and when a youngster steps up at a critical time and SHINES ... it's a special moment. Congrats to Denso.

I hate numbers

They should do away with the "scoring" thing in volleyball. I'll watch the game and based on entertainment value declare a winner.

I love the Body Queens and Neriman is a thing of beauty but this game belonged to Denso. They brain-farted around the end of Set2 and the beginning of set3, doing a few "Densoes" (where they group-watch a ball hit the floor, everyone thinking it's someone else's responsibility), but aside from that they played amazing volleyball. They had a few hundred blocks--my little sweet pea registered TWO kill blocks--but even better than their block party was their Block Coverage. Great rallies in the game because Denso was balls out keeping the ball off the floor. I love Block Coverage. The stats will tell you this was an evenly matched, average game in terms of blocks. It wasn't. I hate numbers.

The brain-fart period lead to a sketchy coach's decision. After dropping Set2 coach didn't start Nabeya in Set3 but brought her in halfway through, and freakin took out my little sweet pea and brought in Suzuki to set. They lost that one as well. Toyota is a really good team and now they are up 2 sets to 1 ... with momentum.